Legs Hearts Minds

How Burnley Football Club Saved My Life

Returning home from a work trip, too jet-lagged to fall asleep, Chris Jones opened his wifes laptop to get some writing done. Instead, he found a series of messages that would burn his world to the ground.

In the span of twenty minutes, he lost his wife and his best friend. Overwhelmed by sorrow and often terrifying rage, Jones contemplated suicide. He soon ended up in an emergency room, begging a doctor for help. That was the start of his journey to understand himself, to come to terms with his mistakes, to let go of anger, and to give himself over to something outside of himself: an underdog English football team from an underdog northern town called Burnley.

How does one rebuild a life? Can something as simple as football give someone a reason to live, offering solace and ultimately meaning? In this searing, beautiful memoir, Jones learns who we are when we care deeply. His jou